


Loose Ends

by silverr



Category: Original Work
Genre: Challenge Response, Crack, Flash Fic, Gen, Humor, Queer Families, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:15:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 4,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21583651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silverr/pseuds/silverr
Summary: Evangelija never expected to get swept up in chrono-galactic intrigue. Time Agent 7866 just wants to retrieve a wandering toaster.~ Written for the shiritori challenge communitywritetomyheart.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 5
Collections: write to my heart





	1. The First Step

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the shiritori fic community **[writetomyheart](https://writetomyheart.dreamwidth.org).**
> 
> Shiritori is a Japanese word game where each player takes the last kana of the previous word as the first kana of a new word. (According to wikipedia, _shiritori_ literally means "picking up the end.") As a writing game, it's a round robin challenge where team members take turns writing a short fic that uses all or part of the last line of the previous fic as their starting point.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Correcting misconceptions at family dinners.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The closing line from the previous writer was: _"Baz rolls **his eyes.** "_

"His eyes?" she asked. "You want to know what color Alex's eyes are?"

The faces around the table ranged from reserved (her older brother, who had met Alex) down through disinterested (her younger sister, who had not) and then back through politely curious and attentive all the way up to avid.

"Yes," her uncle said. "We hear so much about how this Alex—"

 _Alex, Alex, Alex,_ her bratty little sister echoed, but Uncle was undeterred. "We hear all the time how brave, how clever, how hardworking is Alex," he continued.

"How kind Alex is," her brother interjected. "Building houses for the poor, working the food pantry. Volunteering for disaster cleanup."

She shot him a grateful look.

 _You sure?_ he mouthed.

She shrugged, meaning _Might as well. Whole family's here._

"Yes, yes, how kind is Alex as well," Uncle agreed. "Alex is exemplary person." He lifted his hands, as if preparing to catch a falling beach ball. "So?"

"So?" she repeated.

"What do they look like?" Aunt Rana blurted, impatient.

"Yeah, show us a picture!" said one of the nieces at the far end of the table.

"What does it matter?" she asked, glancing around the table. "Is that the most important thing? What they look like?"

"No," Nonna Hazel said softly, "but what if you get sick and we have to pick them up at the airport?"

Over the general laughter, her brother's husband said, "She just wants to scan in Alex's picture and use that Babyface website to see what your kids would look like!" He winked at her.

She set down her fork. "Well," she said, "Brown. They're brown. Her eyes are brown."

.

.

©2019


	2. Awkward!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You've probably been to at least one meeting like this, amirite? With that one person who's never prepared?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The previous writer's closing line was: _"Ed smiles, ready to listen to Al explain all the new developments and pretend, for at least three hours of interesting discussion, that Roy **doesn’t exist in this universe."**_

"Doesn’t exist in this universe?" Time Agent 7866 gasped. "What do you mean, _pi_ doesn't exist in this universe?"

"Someone didn't read the mission brief," Ee-Ooo sing-songed just loud enough to be heard from the far end of the multi-environment room.

"Not Cee over dee," Gruff Leader said sternly to 7866. "Pie."

"An edible circular substance providing matter for energy-releasing chemical reactions," the group J-bot offered.

"Transcendental," blinked Gaseous Sample K-482 from the plasma tank, while @![BURBLESPLAT], a spherical tentacloid arranged across the table from 7866, signed _Irrational._

Gruff Leader stood and slapped the table. "Enough! Every mission is this situation! Less than complete preparedness!"

Titania of the Tuath Dé put a hand on Gruff Leader's arm, and with a growl Gruff Leader sat down.

Gaseous Sample K-482 dimmed contritely to a dull glow, and @![BURBLESPLAT] became slightly oblate. Ee-Ooo didn't apologize, but at least they stopped singing.

"Sorry," Agent 7866 mumbled. "I did read a brief last night, but I guess it was the wrong one." Using as few movements as possible, they brought up and began to skim the information stream.

"As highlighted in the mission brief," Titania said, "the Novikov for this timeline is extremely high, so with _care_ — _"_ Titania stressed this last word slightly, and @![BURBLESPLAT] flattened a bit more — "event adjustments will be paradox-free. Any questions? No? Then prepare for immediate departure." 

"Er," Time Agent 7866 looked up with a stricken expression.

"Yes?" Gruff Leader barked. "What is it?"

"I, ah, I can't leave yet."

"Why?"

"Because I brought the wrong equipment and materials. Entirely inappropriate for this mission."

"I see," Titania said. "What did you bring?"

Time Agent 7866 opened their coat to display an assortment of fancifully decorated spheroids and shimmering metallic strands pinned to the lining. "I brought these festive decorations."

.

.

©2019


	3. Crumb Tray

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A tinkerer and their lifelong companion spend a quiet afternoon in the kitchen examining a mysterious object that probably isn't a toaster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The previous writer's closing line was: _"Al smiles at him while he takes the first bite of stew and it would be annoying as fuck if Ed didn’t love his stupid brother **so much**."_

.

.

"So much love," Darita says as she stands at the sink, looking through the lacy curtains at the screaming children in the back yard. "So much noise." The afternoon sunlight is stippling her face and blouse with tiny scallops, like the wave patterns on an ancient map.

"Here be dragons," I reply. I'm poking at the strange toaster-sized metal box the kids had found in the dumpster. Despite Darita's comments that proper toasters had electric cords and at least one slot for items to be toasted, I prefer to continue thinking of the object with the rounded corners and the beautiful brushed violet finish as a toaster, primarily because something about it proclaims an undeniable _toasterness_ to me.

"You still trying to get that thing to work?"

I look up. She's turned from the window, and is leaning against the sink. Forty-six years, and still as precious to me as ever. Maybe some others wouldn't have looked twice at her, found some fault with her shape or her manner, but none of that had ever mattered to me. Her insides were what counted, and the twinkle when she laughed, and the way one corner of her mouth turned up just a little when she was thinking of doing certain things. Not that it was all about those things, no, no, there was also the way she had always been able to look past _my_ outers, my thick glasses and lumpy body, right to who I really was inside. Maybe that was why she humored all my odd behaviors. Such as _non sequitur_ replies to her comments, and trying to take apart unidentified objects that, alright, probably were not toasters.

"There does seem to be a very faint line running along one edge," I say, taking off my glasses so that I can peer at it up close. "I think it might be the key to opening it. Do we have one of those razor-blade scrapers, or any knives with a—"

There is a clatter as Darita puts a handful of metallic things on the kitchen table. She sits down opposite me and folds her arms. "We don't need a new toaster," she says, though when I put my glasses back on I see that, with a faint smile, she's laid out an assortment of tiny screwdrivers and thin-bladed knives.

.

.

_ © 2019  
_ _posted 28 November 2019 _


	4. Discoveries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The previous writer's closing line was: _“Yup,” Al says cheerfully, **completely missing the point.**_

.

.

"Completely missing the point," Lija hissed, pushing her brother back into the house and slamming the door. 

"Well, I thought he was cute," her brother shrugged. "Call me Tiresias and strike me blind."

"That is wrong on _so_ many levels," Lija said, shaking her head. "But — never mind that now. Did you or did you not just see what I saw?"

"A gorgeous man in a skin-tight black leather jumpsuit who appeared on the porch while we were smoking?" he said. "Yeah I saw him. I think you need to give me the name of your dispensary." 

"Not funny." 

"Evangelija?" Aunt Rana called from the dining room. "Is everything okay? You're missing dessert!"

"We'll be there in a minute!" Lija called back, then pulled her brother into the parlour. "Don't turn on the light," she whispered.

"Why not?"

"I want to see if he's still out there," she said. She tiptoed to the window, then pressed her cheek to the wall so that she could look outside without moving the curtains.

"Is he?" 

"Yes." She frowned. "Or maybe not? There's _someone_ on the porch, but he's wearing different clothes."

"What's he wearing?"

"Jeans, a leather jacket, black t-shirt."

"Is it the same guy?" her brother asked. 

"I can't tell," Lija whispered. "Why would he change clothes?"

He came and stood next to her. "Let me see."

She stepped back, and he peered out. "No, that's a different guy. Just as hot, but definitely not Sci-Fi Jumpsuit Brylcreem Tom of Finland Man. More Daddario."

"Brylcreem?" She shook her head. "You're so weird."

Now her brother frowned. "This is starting to worry me, Lij. Do you think the two of them are casing the place? Or is Nona Hazel about to get swatted?"

"Let's find out." Lija hurried to the front door. "Go check the back yard?"

If the man on the porch was surprised by Lija's sudden reappearance, he didn't show it. He smiled a creepy smile, then said in strangely accented Greek, "Can you direct me to the nearest distribution location for small electrical appliances?"

"What?" 

The man paused, blinked, then said in English, "I seem to have lost my toaster. Would you be so kind as to help me find it?"

.

.

_ posted 28 Dec 2019  
© 2019 _


	5. The Third Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The third man nosing around Nona Hazel's house shows Evangelija a strange photograph.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The closing line from the previous writer was: _"They laugh, and Ed hands Al a bowl to rinse and set **in the drying rack."**_

.

.

"In the drying rack!" Lija said, then laughed nervously. "Sorry, what am I saying? The toaster is  _ next _ to the drying rack. In the kitchen!" The grainy dusky twilight might have been fooling her, she was almost certain that the man now on Nona Hazel's porch was different than the first two she and her brother had seen there. Evangelija was not an expert on what constituted hotness in guys, but this one was definitely not that good-looking, and while he was wearing the same clothes as the previous guy, he didn't fill them out the same way. 

Which meant that now there were _three_ guys nosing around the house? Not good. "Stay here," she said. "I'll go check and be right back." She started to hurry back inside. 

"Before you go," the stranger said, "let me show you an image of what I am seeking."

Lija stopped half-way into the house, then turned. Trying to make it look like a natural movement, she planted one foot behind the door and took hold of the inside handle, hoping this would slow him down if he tried to force himself in. "Alright, yes. That would be helpful." 

All of a sudden, between one blink and the next, he was holding up a shiny square of paper, a very professionally lit photograph of a metallic purple box with rounded edges. 

"Wow, a Polaroid," Lija said, reaching for it with her free hand. "I haven't seen one of those in ages. Can I keep it? I'll show it around inside."

"I would prefer not," the man said as he flicked his wrist to move the photo out of her reach. "I have only one."


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time Agent 7866's search for the "toaster" takes an unexpected turn, one that will require additional paperwork.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The closing line from the previous writer was: _**[It’s probably visible from [at least] Mars] by now.**_

.

.

"By now it's probably visible from Mars. At least."

Time Agent 7866 generally had a snappy comeback to the hypercritical rudeness of the timeskiff's AI, but wasn't free at the moment to vocalize and point out that, if the item was no longer within the probability circumference, it could hardly be detectable from Mars. "Thank you for your effort," 7866 told Evangelija. 

"Protocol prohibits non-essential communication," the AI scolded.

Then again, who was to say what was essential and what wasn't? "Return to consumption of nutrients with the genetically similar entities contained by this structure," 7866 added, performing Linguistic Index Kinestheic Artifact M-05UVP, _the posture classified as 'polite bow.'_

Evangelija's expression was F-160079, _amused confusion._ "Yeah, okay, sure." 

Time Agent 7866 turned from the structure and descended to the level of the "road" (linearly-applied area of bituminous aggregate used for internal combustion based transportation), and began to walk in the direction of the faint chronon particles.

After four or five blips their rear eye saw Evangelija, an attractive male human, and a small immature human approaching rapidly. Time Agent 7866 arranged their face into polite interest and turned to face the trio.

"My sister," Evangelija said, "says that she's seen your toaster."

"Janice and Jimmy found somethin' like that in the dumpster," the small one said. "They sold it to the weirdo in the green house."

"The weirdo in the green house?"

"We'll take you," the attractive male said. "You don't seem to be from around here, and, well, Tinker can be shy."

"Take me," Agent 7866 said, "quickly."

This was apparently not the correct idiom, as Evangelija looked at the male, said, "He'd love to," and produced Linguistic Index Auditory Artifact N-5531, _snicker._

The male began to walk in a direction consistent with the readings from the chronon monitor. "Follow me," he said. "It's not very far."

.

.


	7. Surprise!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evangelija and Nikolai have a chat on the way to Tinker's house; once there, they see something shocking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The closing line from the previous writer was **“So what is it now?”**

.

.

"So what is it now?" Nikolai said. "You're making The Face." 

Evangelija and Nikolai were walking behind the stranger, following him and their little sister to the house that supposedly had the weird purple toaster the stranger was searching for.

"Is horrible that we left a family dinner at Nona Hazel's to help some rando find a fricking toaster?"

Nikolai gestured at the stranger. "We're having a nice walk on a nice afternoon with a nice view. I don't see the problem."

She clicked her tongue. "Broad shoulders in black leather and a nice butt in faded jeans. I guess it's okay, if you like that sort of thing."

"I do."

"Should I remind you that you're married?" Lija asked, bumping her brother's shoulder affectionately with her own. "Should a married man drool over other boys?"

Nikola huffed. "Harmless flirting," he said. "Beren would do the same if he were here."

"Why isn't he?"

Nikolai shrugged. "Work emergency." 

"On a Sunday?" 

Nikolai glanced at Evangelija. "Don't get stirred up, Lij. It happens once or twice a year."

"An emergency accounting trip he can't tell you anything about? Seems sketchy." 

Nikolai opened his mouth to reply, stopped, then shook his head. "I don't see Alex here either."

Realizing she must have touched a sore spot, Evangelija accepted this jab as her due. "Alex and I haven't been dating long enough for me to bring her to Nona Hazel's. And I definitely wasn't going to bring her the day I came out to the aunties and uncles and grands."

"Fair enough," Nikolai said, then added, "Just so you know, I'm certain Beren's not having an affair. He takes monogamy very, very seriously." He stopped and watched as Anamarija and the stranger crossed the street. "So that's the infamous green house?"

The bungalow would have been generically nondescript for the neighborhood if it had been white with gray trim and a tiny patch of grass for a front yard: instead, it was several shades of green, with an exuberant garden of wildflowers corralled by a knee-high wooden fence. A barely-visible stepping-stone path led from the gate to the house.

"Very Summer of Love," Nikolai said.

"Huh?"

"Hippies," he murmured. "Flower children. Free love. LSD and peyote for everyone."

Ana had run to the front door — which was, of course, also painted in the horrible green — and knocked.

After a moment the door opened and a woman answered. She was older, middle aged. Chin-length brown hair was brushed back from her tawny forehead in a bouffant that softened her otherwise regally austere features. In black capri pants and a sleeveless boat-necked top, she looked as though she was doing a shoot for a vintage clothing catalog.

"Well hello, Mrs. Petrie," Nikolaj muttered. "So I was off by a decade."

"Can I help you?" she asked the stranger.

He held out the photograph of the purple toaster.

She looked at it steadily as, from inside the house, a tremulous voice called out, "What is it, Darita?"

With a quick glance at Ana, Evangelija, and Nikolai, the woman — Darita — turned and called back into the house, "We have visitors." She opened the door wider and said, "You can wait in the parlor."

The inside of the house was, surprisingly, decorated in much the same way as Nona Hazel's. Mismatched furniture, too new to be antique and too old to be stylish, upholstered in muted cabbage rose fabric. Assorted picture frames crowded every wall and tabletop, showcasing two raucous looking kids. "Beautiful grandchildren," Evangelija said, assuming that this would be the best way to get on Darita's good side.

Unfortunately, the similarities between her and Nona Hazel ended with decor. With a tight smile, Darita stood indicating the chairs in the small room overlooking the front garden, her body language making it clear that they were not welcome to advance deeper into the house.

As soon as they sat she said, "Thank you," and swiftly went down the hall toward the back of the house.

"You're sure this is where your friends brought the toaster thing?" Lija asked.

Anamarija nodded emphatically. "Weirdo gave them ten dollars."

"Ana," Nikolai chided, "what have we said about using words like that?"

She rolled her eyes. "That I shouldn't be mean to people who are different." She folded her arms and made an extra-exaggerated pout. "Uncle Stavos does it all the time. He uses much worser words."

"Not 'worser,' worse," Nikolai corrected, "and Uncle Stavos is old and prejudiced and full of gas. What's your excuse?"

Anna giggled, and then, in a shameless attempt to change the subject, asked brightly, "Is Tinker transgender?" 

"I dunno, maybe," Nikolai replied. "Why does it matter? Everyone deserves respect." He sighed and added under his breath, "Well, at least at _first."_

Evangelija rolled her eyes. "Way to water down the message." She saw the stranger, who had been looking down at his phone, smile faintly.

There were footsteps in the hall; Darita had returned. With her was the elderly person with frizzy hair and thick glasses whom everyone in the neighborhood called Tinker, but it was the man behind them that made Evangelija gasp in surprise.

She wasn't the only one, as both Nikolai and the stranger demanded, "What are _you_ doing here?"

.

.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Revelations!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The previous author's ending line was, _**It's a good thing Ed doesn't care about things like that.**_

.

.

"It's a good thing Ed doesn't care about things like that," the bald man standing behind Tinker and Darita said.

"Who's Ed?" Nikolai and the stranger demanded in unison, and then stared at each other.

Darita sighed. "I knew this was going to happen," she said to Tinker. "Didn't I say just the other day?"

Tinker nodded. "Yes, you did. Should we attempt to sort it out?"

Darita raised her eyebrows and shrugged. "Not me. I'll go make tea or slice some pound cake or something." She gave the visitors an appraising look. "I'll even use the good plates." She turned and went back down the hall.

"I want cake!" Ana called after her. "Lots of cake! And orange soda! Or grape!"

Evangelija shushed her, but mentally added _And popcorn._ She was fairly certain that the bald man standing behind Tinker was her brother's husband. Who supposedly hadn't been able to make the dinner at Nona Hazel's because of a 'work emergency' that had taken him out of town. 

"Well. So." Tinker rubbed their hands on their overalls. "I'm going to help Darita." They hurried down the hall after her.

Nikolai, who had been staring at his husband, asked in a disbelieving tone, "Beren? What's going on?"

The stranger sitting next to Nikolai scoffed. _"Beren?_ Really? That's the best you could do?"

Nikolai turned to glare at him. "It's a Turkish name. And in case you didn't know, Beren is my husband."

"Oh," the stranger chuckled, "I see."

Beren exhaled and said something rapid and incomprehensible.

The stranger looked surprised, then irritated. He made a grimace of disgust, then slapped his knees and stood. "Whatever you want, 3120. Have fun with Titania." He hurried out the front door, closing it behind him with a decisive click.

"Wait a minute!" Nikolai jumped up and went after him, but apparently both the deadbolt and the lock on the doorknob had engaged, so by the time Niko unlocked them and threw open the door the street was empty. "Where did he go?" he asked.

"Niko—" Beren began.

"Don't _Niko_ me," Evangelija's brother said as he slammed the door shut. "Work emergency my _ass."_

"I wasn't lying," Beren said.

"No?" Nikolai folded his arms and pressed his lips together in the way he always did when he was fighting tears.

"Not exactly." 

"How exactly are you _not exactly_ lying?"

Beren sighed. "This is work, just… not for the job I've had since I've been with you."

.

.

_ first post 17 March 2020 _


	9. Seriously?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ana gets her orange soda (finally!) and the mystery of Beren's former profession is revealed (sort of).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The previous author's ending line was _**“I’d rather not know until I can’t avoid it any longer.”**_

.

.

"Can’t avoid it any longer," Beren murmured. "Alright, so, the work I did before I became an accountant involved a lot of travel."

Nikolai folded his arms. "And?"

"And sometimes they call and hire me as a consultant."

"You're being really vague about what your old job was," Lija said. She sat up. "Were you a jewel thief? Or an assassin? Did you do top-secret black ops wetwork stuff?" 

Beren and Nikolai gave her _Seriously_? looks, while Ana sprawled dramatically in her chair and whined, "I need orange soda!"

Recalling what Leather Jacket Guy had said before he left, Evangelija asked Beren, "How do you know that guy? Did you work together? and why did he call you 3120?"

Beren sighed. "It was my agent ID."

"I knew it!" Evangelija said. "You were a spy!"

Just then Darita came back into the room. She set down a tray of sliced bundt cake and four old-fashioned bottles of orange Faygo soda pop. "Civilians," she said to Beren, making it sound like a warning.

"Can someone tell me what the frilly hell is going on?" Nikolai said.

Just then there was a popping sound and Leather Jacket Guy materialized in the parlor. "We're retrieval specialists," he said, then slapped a large silver disc against the side of Beren's head.

They disappeared. 

Evangelija, Nikolai, and Ana looked open-mouthed at Darita.

She shrugged. "You know that old Polish proverb: 'Not my circus, not my monkeys.' "

.

.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mysterious object enters the scene; Tinker makes a surprising offer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The previous author's last sentence was **_“And I didn’t miss you at all, so don’t even ask.”_**

.

.

"Don't even ask before they barge in here and whisk people off," Darita grumbled to Tinker, who had appeared in the hallway, "then leave without taking _that."_ She waved her hand at the toaster-sized object in Tinker's hands, a purple metallic box with rounded corners.

"That's the thing Leather Jacket Guy was looking for!" Evangelija said. "He had a picture of it! He came to our house looking for it!"

"I told you," Ana said, finishing off the second bottle of Faygo, "Janice and Jimmy—"

"—found it in a dumpster and brought it here," Evangelija cut in. "I know, _I know,_ you said so like a hundred times already."

Niko was staring at the object. "A makeup case? Beren was kidnapped because of a makeup case?"

"I doubt it's a makeup case," Tinker said. "More likely it's a —" 

Darita patted Tinker's arm. "Best not."

"Can I have another soda?" Ana asked sweetly after a few beats of silence. She held up the two empty bottles.

"Don't be so greedy," Evangelija hissed at her.

"Of course you can have more soda," Darita said, taking the bottles. She went down the hallway toward the kitchen.

"I'm sorry 7866 took your husband," Tinker said, holding the box out to Niko. "Since I didn't get anywhere with this, I think you should take it."

Niko looked hesitant. "Why?"

"To trade for him."

As Niko stood and reached for the box Evangelija asked, "Is it radioactive?"

Tinker's laugh was elfin, light and musical, "Oh no, of course not! I wouldn't give it to you if I thought it was dangerous."

"What do we do now?" Evangelija asked as Darita came back with another Faygo.

"Go somewhere and wait," Darita said. "They'll come to you now that you have the box."

Evangelija glanced at Ana, then asked Darita, "Can she stay here?"

Ana nearly choked on her soda. "What? No! I want to go with you!"

"No," Evangelija said. "It could be dangerous." She looked to Darita for confirmation.

Darita exchanged a look with Tinker, then said, "She can stay here."

"Thank you," Evangelija said, pulling out her phone to call Nona Hazel with an update.

Ana pouted. "I never get to do anything fun."

"I'll tell you everything," Nikolai said in a stage whisper. "I'll even take pictures."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

As they left Tinker and Darita's house Evangelija tapped her phone screen.

"Ooo, speed dial," Niko said. "You calling your new bae?"

Evangelija rolled her eyes at him. " _'Bae'?_ Seriously?"

Niko shrugged. "What can I say? I'm officially an old as of my last birthday."

As the phone rang Evangelija began to rehearse what she was going to say to Alec: _Hey, it's me. The dinner went great, the family is cool with us, but something's come up and I'm not sure I can get there in time…_

.

.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All the dangling threads are finally tied up… well, _almost_ all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The previous author's last sentence was **_"Self-care is an important part of personal maintenance,” Mustang says, as though he’s daring Ed to take issue with it, as if Ed doesn’t already take issue with everything about him on a personal level._**

.

.

"Everything about him on a personal level bugs me," Niko said.

"Who? The man who kidnapped your husband?"

Evangelija and Niko were standing on the sidewalk in front of Tinker and Darita's house. Darita had said that the so-called retrieval specialist — who Tinker had referred to as '7866' — would home in on the toaster, but Evangelija didn't want people popping in and out in plain sight of the entire street. "Let's go somewhere out of the way," she said. "How about Estes Park?"

"Why Testes Park?"

"It's close enough that we can walk back to Nona's when we're done." She hefted the purple toaster and added, "Also, I'm supposed to meet Alex there later, so if we get horribly murdered over whatever this is, at least our bodies will be discovered quickly."

"You want your new girlfriend to discover my horribly mutilated body?" Niko asked as he followed Evangelija across the street and in the direction of the park.

Estes Park was a neighborhood project, a former vacant lot that had been cleaned and landscaped into a tiny, tree-shaded oasis with two plastic benches and a children's play set. 

Since the day had been drizzly and overcast, Evangelija was hoping that they'd have the place to themselves, but as they approached she saw a familiar figure on the swings.  "Shit."

"Who is that?" Niko asked, as the woman with the pink streaked hair waved and called out, "I figured I'd wait for you here!"

"Is that your bae?" Niko asked, nudging her. "The marvelous and mysterious Ms. Alex?  _ J'approuve." _

"So, is that your emergency?" Alex had jumped off the swing and run over to them, and was now looking pointedly at the purple toaster.

"Yes, and it's a whole exhausting thing," Niko said. "Lija will explain it all later."

"Okay." Alex looked around and asked, "What are we waiting for?"

As if they'd heard her, with a little pop Guy and Beren appeared a few feet away.

Alex flinched, but didn't scream or freak out, which made Evangelija oddly proud. "That," she said.

As Niko rushed to Beren, Leather Jacket Guy (aka 7866) saw the toaster in Evangelija's hands and reached for it. He looked relieved and just the tiniest bit blown.

"That's it?" Evangelija asked. "No explanation, no apologies, you're just going to poof out of here?"

"That's it," 7866 said, then frowned slightly and said to Alex, "Do I know you?"

"What? No!" Ales said with a nervous laugh.

Leather Jacket gave an amused half smile. "Hm, I could swear we'd met at one of Titania's parties. Oh well, if you say so… "

And with that, he was gone.

Niko, who had been hugging and kissing Beren fiercely, was now pretending to be stern as he wiped away tears. "Lucy! You've got a lot of 'splaining to do!" he said, waggling his finger.

"I know, my love, I know," Beren said. "But first, shall we go see if there's any pie left at Nona Hazel's?" 

Evangelija smiled and took Alex's hand. "Welcome to the family."

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_ ~ The End ~ _

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_ First post 7 June 2020 _

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This started as a series of unrelated original oneshots, and then, somehow, melted together.


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